The Super

Today I am going to show you around our local grocery store in Sayaxche.  It is more of a warehouse for all of the smaller stores and village stores than anything else.  They sell a lot of things in bulk and you can find a lot of staple foods there.  We use it more for odds and ends and things we run out of until we can get to the big grocery store in Santa Elena. 

outside of the store 

The name is The Super Familiar but we just call it The Super.

entering the store

This is the only freezer section there is.  They have drinks, a few meats, cheese, yogurt, and a few other things but not very much of a selection. 

They have a large liquor section.  On one recent visit I was looking at the household cleaners on the aisle behind it and Cruz, in his reaching for everything in sight stage, grabbed a thing of whiskey and dropped it on the floor. This was at the opposite end of this aisle right next to the full check-out line.  I gasped!  Luckily it was in a gift box and did not break.  I would have hated to buy it.  Although I am sure that would have been a good joke for the bystanders about the gringo missionaries buying whiskey, lol. 

This is the fireworks aisle.  They are very popular here and are shot year round.

In Guatemala eggs are bought on the shelf.  We do not refrigerate them.

We also buy our milk on the shelf.   We buy the blue box, it's 2%.  It has an expiration date on the box that is usually for several months away (if unopened).  We like to buy it by the case, because it stores so well.  Once opened you need to refrigerate it, and it will last about two weeks.  Powdered milk is also very popular here.

Ramen noodles are cheap and popular with the locals.  We were once served ramen noodles in a K'ekchi' village with tortillas.  The family kept apologizing because they fed us that, but it was all they had.  We loved it, and still talk about that meal.  We refer to that church and pastor as "you know, the place where they served us ramen noodles".  haha 

Instant coffee is also common.  Because I am nursing I have only been drinking instant decaf coffee for the past several months.  David, a coffee lover, thinks I am nuts, but you do what you have to do.

David picking out a bag of coffee on a recent visit.

Colgate is the most popular brand of toothpaste here. 

Pantene, Pert, and Herbal Essense are just a few of the many brands of hair products you can buy here.  Equate brand is also very popular here.

Looks like they have a few rolls of Scott tissue- a very popular brand here

David and Cruz on a recent visit